I was going to post this in that GÇ£otherGÇ¥ thread, but I donGÇÖt want the OPGÇÖs attitude to sully what I believe to be a very important issue for new players.

Being a new player let me add my point of view. This will be the third time IGÇÖve come back to EVE, but the first time IGÇÖve lasted longer than a month. IGÇÖm actually going on 3 months now, but hereGÇÖs the catch GÇô IGÇÖve barely played at all these past 3 months, why? Because the sheer volume of SP needed to put oneself in a Battleship with Tech II weapons is overwhelming to say the least. Also yes, I joined a corp with a veteran player, he showed me all the ropes, gave me a taste of the good life, even if I couldnGÇÖt do it all myself GÇô which makes this entire debacle even worse... New players read about all the awesome things going on within the game or see them, sign up to get a taste of it, then promptly cancel because they realise just how long it will take to do all those awesome things, they realise just how long it will take to actually fly what they really want to fly.

And yes, Tech II weapons, not Tech I. Tech II weapons with Tech II Ammo and the appropriate skills can have as much as a 50% advantage over Tech I, and that is not something to be taken lightly (I googled many forum posts about the difference between Tech I & Tech II with appropriate skills levelled, up to 50% was the general consensus). The advantage may not always be as much as 50% I know, but this brings me to my second point.

Most people who play MMOGÇÖs are of a particular breed, they want to be the best they can be in the physical sense, i.e. be wearing the best gear possible regardless of player skill. EVE is the only MMO out there, that has such a punishing GÇ£gear grindGÇ¥ for new players. IGÇÖd say itGÇÖs a fairly safe bet to assume the majority of people who try EVE and then give up within the first month, do so because the difference in SP between new and veteran players is simply far too overwhelming. The length of time it takes to fly a decent ship with Tech II weapons can take 2-3months if not longer, and thatGÇÖs doing nothing but skill up for the Battleship you want to fly. If you want to skill up other core skills it is going to take you even longer... That, to new players, is THE proverbial brick wall.

This finally brings me onto the title of this thread GÇô EVEGÇÖs greatest strength, the ability to skill-up whilst off-line, has ironically become the gameGÇÖs greatest weakness. Now I love the fact I can skill-up off-line, the feeling of progressing whilst not playing is absolutely glorious. However, in the ten years this game has been out, not a lot has been done to bridge the SP gap between new and veteran players. The fact the game literally forces you to have more than one character/account if you want to specialise speaks for itself.

DonGÇÖt get me wrong, I really enjoy EVE, I enjoy everything it stands for. But, I also canGÇÖt see any logical reason, any at all, for not putting better measures in place to really help bridge the gap between new and veteran players. Here is a simple fix that I would propose:

Now that the game has been out for 10 bloody years, give all Tech I requirements, ergo the appropriate skills and level, to new players, but ONLY in the field they choose to specialise in when creating their character, be it in Combat, Trade, ect. This would leave in the requirement to have a second character if you want to specialise into something else, whilst helping to break down that seemingly unbreakable wall for new players. Allow the new players to use all the Tech I goodies from the get go, so they can actually try the game out properly and decide what Tech II fits they want to specialise into. This would go a long long way into retaining A LOT of players. Hell IGÇÖm only still here because IGÇÖve grown stubborn over the years

What harm will it do? Veteran players will still woop all the newbies bottoms, so no problem there. What good will it do? It will keep the new players that want to play the game seriously, well playing, by making the game feel more accessible. You know those players that currently quit because they feel the game is insurmountable.

10 years... 10 bloody years worth of SP and skills, yet the game is pretty much using the same model for new players now, that is was 10 years ago! Now if that doesnGÇÖt scare away new players, well it certainly should do and it does. I should know. CCP should know.